No Mo Momo

Waiting out the weather in Pheriche means lots of hot meals. But while it beats ramen soup in a bivy, the menu eventually gets old. Rice, noodles, rice, more noodles, a few lentils and the occasional scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast. Then repeat.

“The food is good, although mostly the same,” says Ueli. “What I look forward to the most when I’m back home is a good coffee and a stroll down to the neighborhood bakery for freshly baked bread.”

Pheriche fare ranges from stir-fried noodle and dal bat (rice with lentils—the omnipresent national dish) to spaghetti and pizza. The last two are “better left alone,” Ueli says, since the Nepalese know most how to cook their own specialties.

Then there’s the all-powerful Momo, a kind of pot sticker kind crossed with a squat dim sum dumpling. What’s inside depends on the chef, from minced meat (yak or pork), to cheeses and vegetables, all mixed together with spices of all kinds. Steam, then serve with chili sauce and more spices.

“It’s the perfect snack, the power food of the Himalaya,” says Ueli’s climbing partner Freddie Wilkinson. (Better left alone though, are the Snickers®-filled sweet versions sold in touristy areas.)